HRM and the leader are often assumed to play a joint role in affecting employee reactions. In a multilevel, time-lagged study, we examined the joint role of the employment relationship and leader-member exchange. We tested whether this joint role is essential to when leader-member exchange leads to affective well-being via psychological empowerment. We build on HRM literature to expect that the relationship of leader-member exchange with psychological empowerment is stronger when the employment relationship is consistent with leader-member exchange quality. Results indicated that psychological empowerment mediates the relationship between leader-member exchange and affective well-being. This mediation is stronger for employees in a mutual investment employment relationship. The findings point at the importance of consistency of resources from the employment relationship and leader-member exchange. Nevertheless, the findings also suggest that resources from leader-member exchange compensate for employment relationships with low resources. Our findings contribute to scholars’ understanding of the joint role of HRM systems and leader behaviors.

@article{7036023,
abstract = {HRM and the leader are often assumed to play a joint role in affecting employee reactions. In a multilevel, time-lagged study, we examined the joint role of the employment relationship and leader-member exchange. We tested whether this joint role is essential to when leader-member exchange leads to affective well-being via psychological empowerment. We build on HRM literature to expect that the relationship of leader-member exchange with psychological empowerment is stronger when the employment relationship is consistent with leader-member exchange quality. Results indicated that psychological empowerment mediates the relationship between leader-member exchange and affective well-being. This mediation is stronger for employees in a mutual investment employment relationship. The findings point at the importance of consistency of resources from the employment relationship and leader-member exchange. Nevertheless, the findings also suggest that resources from leader-member exchange compensate for employment relationships with low resources. Our findings contribute to scholars’ understanding of the joint role of HRM systems and leader behaviors.},
author = {Audenaert, Mieke and Vanderstraeten, Alex and Buyens, Dirk},
issn = {0958-5192},
journal = {INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT},
language = {eng},
number = {15},
pages = {2208--2227},
title = {When affective well-being is empowered : the joint role of leader-member exchange and the employment relationship},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2015.1137610},
volume = {28},
year = {2017},
}